--- description: Find out why Kate Hudson is one of the 100 most influential people of 2026. title: Kate Hudson: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d76e782690d1188/69dfb96223c6b4cc29bccdeb/T100-2026-Web-Kate-Hudson-2345.png?branch=production --- Apr 15, 2026 # Kate Hudson by Mindy Kaling  Sami Drasin—AUGUST My relationship with [Kate Hudson](https://time.com/7342344/song-sung-blue-review/ "undefined") started the way every good Hollywood friendship does: while we were both being ignored at an Oscars party. We were in line for portraits when a very famous person, who I won’t name because I’m classy, cut in front of us. Kate and I exchanged a quick “did that just happen?” look, and I remember thinking, I want to be friends with her. So naturally, I created an entire show to make that happen. Working together on _Running Point,_ I grew to admire her more. I always knew she was funny, but I learned her timing comes from a place of humility. She’s also an incredible dramatic actress who can sing (!), something she proves in [_Song Sung Blue_](https://time.com/7341477/song-sung-blue-true-story/ "undefined")_._ Kate makes being the coolest girl in the room feel effortless, and then, just to keep it interesting, she keeps changing what that means. She doesn’t cling to any one version of herself. She keeps moving, keeps trying things, keeps making it look like a very good idea to trust your instincts and go where the fun is. And somehow, she makes it all look easy, which is the hardest thing in the world. _Kaling is an actor and Emmy-nominated writer and producer_ _Join us on_ [_TIME's YouTube_](https://www.youtube.com/time "undefined") _for the 2026 TIME100 Gala Red Carpet Livestream, starting at 6:00 p.m. EST on April 23, 2026—and available after on demand_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/kate-hudson/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/kate-hudson/"},"headline":"Kate Hudson","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:49.213Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/kate-hudson/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d76e782690d1188/69dfb96223c6b4cc29bccdeb/T100-2026-Web-Kate-Hudson-2345.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mindy Kaling"}],"creator":"Mindy Kaling","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d76e782690d1188/69dfb96223c6b4cc29bccdeb/T100-2026-Web-Kate-Hudson-2345.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/kate-hudson/","name":"Kate Hudson"}}]}] ```